Rigging the next election?

[Deleted member 478]

If we (all the registered forumites, their immediate families and whomever else we can persuade) rent a house in Tony B.Liars constituency and all re-register on the voters roll, could we swing the vote so that he actually looses his seat in parliment?

 

[tcm]

not a hope in hell

tb's constituency is on the outskirt's of durham, which let me tell you is flippin awful, ghastly, altho durham itsellf is okay. I applaud the idea but i can't see any of us sticking it out for more than a day in trimdon dene or sedgefield, and neither does he, hence loads of foreign trips, anything to stay away. Sorry, you are gonna have to shoot him or (better) take up the boxing again and knock him out which on previous form io think would be fine, really. I will happily be on hand to say "john, well, he's just john, isn't he?!" and then no charges.

 

[BrianJ]

Re: Weekend Newspaper

The weekend befor last , there was a big article, in the local newspaper (dist = about 3m) on how the POMS WANTED TB to win the next election.
From what I read on this BB, seems no sailor wants him to win.
So a straw poll eh ? /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
BrianJ

 

[SlowlyButSurely]

Re: Weekend Newspaper

I'm afraid to say you only see ill-informed rubbish about Tony B on this site. That's why nobody bothers to respond to any of it.

 

[jimi]

Re: Weekend Newspaper

Au contraire, most of the comment re the man is remarkably well informed and were a there a opposition of any merit he would have disappeared into historical oblivion or been impeached (or its equivalent) years ago.

 

[zefender]

Re: Weekend Newspaper

So let's chuck him out and let the opposition in - doh!

 

[StugeronSteve]

Re: Weekend Newspaper

Wrong, In general the criticism that Blair receives, on this forum, is from very "informed" people. Blair has been demonstrated, time and again, to have been far less than honest with his colleagues in parliament and the electorate, and, regardless of ones political viewpoint, this cannot be considered acceptable. Were it not, as Jimi has suggested, for the pitiful weakness of Her Majesty's Opposition, Blair would never have gained a second term of office.

To me the coming election presents a serous moral dilemma, the opposition is unelectable and the current PM (not necessarily party) is unfit to govern.

If for no other reason than his support of the Iraq war, and there are many other reasons, Blair has to step down, or at least be called to task, if there is to be a well supported election.

 

[SlowlyButSurely]

Re: Weekend Newspaper

I rest my case.

 

[jimi]

Moral dilemna .. it certainly is

One bit of me says chuck him out at all costs, but that wo'nt solve the real problem which is the political and constitutional crisis facing this country. I'm going to spoil my vote. Just hope enough people do that which will indicate that there's a substantial number of people in this country who are effectively disenfranchised by the lack of realistic options who care enough to get off their arses and vote in a fashion which registers that dissatisfaction. Whew that was a long sentence!

 

[StugeronSteve]

Re: Ditto! nm.

.

 

[tcm]

hoho

um, but the guffawing "ha - just imagine!" argument will surely only last so long, though? I mean, council tax has doubled, some nhs hospitals worse than slaughterhouses, exam results sem simply rigged, not much policing goes on, and we're involved in every war available six and counting innit?

Not sure what exactly would have really much much worse if the other lot - or any other lot - had been in. And would any of this lot getting a better job outside govt than in, really? John Smith was the last labour minster/shadow in such a position...

 

[AlexL]

Re: hoho

I quite agree, althought the opposition aint great, they cannot be a whole lot worse, and at the end of the day, very few people care about politics, what they care about is economics and their own prosperity. I know Gordon keeps saying how well he is doing, but he's built a house of cards on a pile of personal debt - If you look at the numbers, very few people in this country are any better off than they were 10 years ago - they think they are, but the rise in 'wealth' has been almost 100% mirrored by a fall in savings and a rise in debt. Say what you want about maggie but at least she created wealth, not just moved a pile of debt into a pile of personal possesions of dubious realisable value.
The most telling thing of all is the last budget, there is a gap between tax receipts and expenditure of about 20-30 billion pounds- either gordon and the entire treasury cannot add up, which I find very hard to believe. Or he has a plan for raising an extra 30 billion pounds of tax (which represents a fair wack) and is keeping shtum about it until after the election. The one political faux pas this government have done (apart from the fox-hunting) is passing the freedom of information act, as many people are now getting papers from the treasury which shows that this is indeed the case and many very unstealthy stealth taxes have been comitted too, but not yet published.
There is a saying that you get the government you deserve (plural You, not singling anyone out). If people complain about Blair and then don't have the Cojones to vote anyone else in his place then they are not really in a position to complain about taking it up the Ar*e for another 4 years.

 

[Magic_Sailor]

Re: Moral dilemna .. it certainly is

That's pretty much my feeling as well. I am considering spoiling my ballot paper.

Magic

 

[SlowlyButSurely]

Re: hoho

Thank you Alex!

That's the first coherently argued post about politics I've read on this board. If we're going to have politics let's have more of this and less of the emotional outbursts.

 

[StugeronSteve]

Re: Moral dilemna .. it certainly is

One great problem with the "None of the Above" action is that many people will have a candidate on offer who is worthy of election, unfortunately, in recent years I have not been so blessed.

 

[jimi]

Re: hoho

Erm SlowlyButSurely, I presume your concern is principally economic? Well let me say mine is not. My concern is about the slow erosion of constitutional checks and balances and consequent abuse of power. This has led to the world being a more dangerous place for you and me, people being held indefinitely without charge, the muzzling of the BBC. These are not emotional outpourings, they are facts. Oh .. and I am not mis/uninformed .. perhaps its you who've got your head in the sand whilst yer arse is flying out the window

 

[AlexL]

Re: hoho

Jimi

I too am concerned with alot of the erosion of personal freedoms and constitutional issues in this country, But I think you and I are very much in the minority. I believe (I may be wrong) that most people are concerned with economics and prosperity - after all its hard to take the high moral ground when you're unemployed and skint, and its easier to swallow moral issues when times are good. I personally believe that most people are prepared to accept TB's shennaningans because they believe that the economy is doing Ok - however, as I pointed out in my previous post, the veneer of the economy looks shiny and new, but scratch the surface and it is rotten as hell. .. reminds me of a car I once sold...

 

[primitiveman]

Re: hoho

Actually the erosion of personal liberty started under Thatcher; ask anyone who worked at GCHQ for instance. I'm as keen to get rid of the Vicar of Sedgefield as anyone, but for different reasons. We've now had 25 years of continuous Tory government which has turned this country into a kind of "bargain basement" version of America, with the majority working excessive hours so the stock owning minority can enjoy excessive un-earned wealth. Compare that to the quality of life people have in "Old Europe" and I know which I prefer.

 

[SlowlyButSurely]

Re: hoho

Hi Jimi. I didn't mention any concerns, I was simply making the point to BrianJ, who doesn't live in the UK, that the posts on this board are not necessarily representative.

I don't doubt that you are well-informed, as I am sure many others on here are, but this does not come across in the many posts, about TB in particular, which quite frankly are mostly just abusive. Politics is a legitimate topic for discussion on here so let's have a sensible discussion.

 

[webcraft]

Re: freedom

Jimi,

I agree that this government has been guilty of abuses of power, the muzzling of the BBC and the new counter terrorism powers being classic examples.

However . . . many would argue that Thatcher's use of Parliament and the police force to crush the miners was a similar (in magnitude) abuse of power, if not worse. The Belgrano has likewise sunk (pun intended) into historical obscurity, along with all the other questions raised by the Falklands conflict. The British public certainly weren't kept fully informed about that war, were they?

As for the spat with the BBC - this was a bit of a novelty. The BBC has been regularly targeted for left wing bias by a series of Tory governments. To see the current government as anti-democracy means you are being selective with the evidence - what about the enfranchisment of republicans in Ireland and the Freedom of Information act?

I think we all have short memories or select the facts to fit our political bias, and I also believe that the main force behind that bias is economic - most of the posters here would vote for Atilla the Hun if he offered twopence off the basic rate and a stop to immigration.

(You not included, Jimi, I hasten to add)

One point that no-one has raised is the current role of the media, which seems to be to seek out, vilify and destroy all public officials and dumb all debate down to a pantomime shouting match.

- Nick